Moroccans repent of joining ISIL militants in Syria, Iraq

The Moroccan militants who have joined the terrorist ISIL group in Syria and Iraq have reportedly expressed repentance and plan to return to their country.

According to Moroccan media reports, tens of Moroccan members of the ISIL have left the Takfiri terrorist group and are awaiting permission by Moroccan officials to go back home.

Morocco’s Interior Minister Mohamed Hassad said on Tuesday that as many as 2000 Moroccans are affiliated with the ISIL.

Morocco has placed its security forces on high alert following intelligence reports pointing to a “serious terror threat” from the militants returning home from Iraq and Syria.

“The threats are linked to the increasing number of Moroccans belonging to organizations in Syria and Iraq,” read a statement issued following the government’s weekly cabinet meeting.

Moroccan authorities say they have dismantled dozens of militant cells that dispatch militants into Syria and Iraq.

The North African country has suffered numerous bomb attacks by suspected militants, most recently in 2011 in Marrakesh, when a blast in a cafe killed 15 people, including 10 foreigners. It was the worst attack in Morocco since 2003, when bombings killed more than 45 people in Casablanca.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since March 2011. According to some sources, over 160,000 people have been killed and millions displaced due to the violence fueled by the foreign-backed militants.

Iraq has also been experiencing militancy, a spillover of the crisis in neighboring Syria. ISIL terrorists took control of Iraq’s Mosul on June 10, which was followed by the fall of Tikrit, located 140 kilometers (87 miles) northwest of the capital, Baghdad. The militants have declared a “caliphate” in the overrun areas.